Page 40 of Unveiled As The Italian's Bride
‘How could you sense it?’ She took the glass he poured out and offered. She needed it. Nerves had stopped her from drinking all but a single glass of Prosecco earlier, but now she needed this.
She sat and waited as he perched opposite her, so close that their knees were practically touching.
‘It puzzles me,’ Dante admitted truthfully. ‘There seemed to be some sixth sense at work.’
‘Well, you were right,’ Kate said glumly. ‘They’re so excited for me. Forus.’
For a few seconds, their eyes tangled before he lowered his lush lashes, concealing his expression.
She realised that she’d been so anxious that she had almost forgotten how beautiful he was, how darkly, dangerously handsome. But she remembered at pace as she breathed him in and noted the confined bedroom space just behind.
Even casually dressed and dishevelled after travelling he remained drop-dead gorgeous, his raven-black hair spiky and a little damp, his harsh, arrogant features softened as he looked at her curiously. If she was going to put money on establishing a firm friendship with this guy, then she was going to be down by her life savings if she carried on staring at him like this. But her eyes were glued to his face and it was an effort to tear them away.
‘I see that. It was...unexpected.’
‘I bet you think that everything about today has been unexpected. Starting with the weather and ending with us spending two nights in a caravan. Unless... Would you consider rushing back to Italy tonight for an emergency?’
‘An emergency what?’
‘Meeting? They understand that you work hard.’
‘Not hard enough to risk life and limb, and at any rate the driver has decamped to the nearest hotel for the next couple of days. It would be unfair to have him riskhislife and limb to fetch me for a non-existent meeting. The money...is it to help your family?’
Kate cradled the wine glass and stared down into the deep claret liquid. ‘There was an accident,’ she said softly. ‘Some years ago. My dad was thrown from his motorbike and he lost his leg. I should explain that my life has been...unconventional. A lot of travelling.’
She breathed in deep and retraced her past, realising that it was the first time she had ever really spoken about it to anyone. She told him there had been no steady friendships along the way, that she had not remained in one place next to anyone long enough for her to consider them an anchor or a soul mate.
It was strange that she would choose this man to open up to but it felt good—dangerously good. And he made a terrific listener, not interrupting, just hearing her out with his head tilted to one side and his eyes thoughtful, sipping red wine and settling into his surroundings without a hint of condescension or snobbery. The snow swirled outside but in there the portable heaters were winning a battle to keep the small space warm.
‘And yet you found time to study? To get qualifications?’
‘I enjoyed it.’
Dante looked at her for a while in silence, then he drained the wine, glanced around him and wondered aloud whether she might give him a tour of their new surroundings.
‘Not only can I do that, but I can do that without moving from where I am.’ She eyed the sleeping area which was partitioned off with a gaily printed curtain. ‘You’ll have to take the sofa, I’m afraid. It should have been the sofa in the house, which might have been a bit more comfortable...’
‘Was that the plan for the happily engaged couple?’
‘I only have a single bed in my room. It could never have fitted both of us.’ She blushed.
‘What are your plans for the money?’
‘I...’ Kate lowered her eyes ‘I... There’s a mortgage on this house which I’ve been servicing. My parents, like I’ve just said, never really planned for their future. I want to make sure they’re okay. More than that—I want to make sure they have the best kind of life they can have, after what’s happened, and that means no money worries. There are so many things I want to get for them, too many to quantify on the spur of the moment.’
‘Can I tell you something?’
‘What?’ Kate asked cautiously.
‘Had you simply asked me for the money to do as you have just explained, I would happily have lent it to you or given it to you. Immaterial.’
‘I would never have done that! Are you crazy?’
‘It’s an offer not many would have refused.’
‘As I’ve already told you,’ Kate said with a shaky laugh, ‘you mix with all the wrong people.’
Dante smiled back at her and her heart skipped a couple of beats. ‘In which case, I’m a lucky man to have found you,’ he murmured, then he added quickly, ‘I’d like to say that, if you want to renege on this arrangement, then I’ll honour the pre-nup agreement we made without hesitation.’
